Today, patients are encouraged to use patient portals to keep up to date with lab work, appointments, payments, and doctor visits. In theory, this is a great idea, but complex patients can have multiple patient portals, making the system more fragmented, disconnected,...
I love this time of the year when I find videos of commencement speeches. Recently this speech from Hampton University popped up in my Facebook Memories and it make me think about how we live our lives and where we are today as a country, and as a world. With all...
Each year, I compile two lists; one is my Professional Reading List, and the other is my Summer Reading List. I send out the Summer Reading list the week of July 4th and the Professional Reading list right before Labor Day. Both lists have been well received and...
As we move forward from the COVID 19 Pandemic, we are learning that there are many people who have gone above and beyond to help their fellow man. In this week’s post, I wanted to recognize the work a friend and case management colleague who went above and beyond to...
Being kind is something we all learn as children. If you have children, you watch them and remind them to be kind to other children at the playground, in your home and other places where children meet. Yet, every day we hear about terrible things that people do to...
Over the weekend I learned my friend, who is battling cancer, had see a specialist in Miami. Since COVID she has been seeing most of her doctors virtually, but because she has had a new lesion, the hematologist wanted to see her in his office. She is weak, suffering...
Over the past few months, I have gotten back to doing onsite nursing case management and what I call nurse advocacy. It has been an eye-opening experience. I find my key role is finding resources for my patients and improving communication between members of the...
My husband often says that to fix something, you need the right tools. This is true in all aspects of life, but most of all in healthcare. To help people be active participants in their healthcare, they need the information to understand the rationale in their plan of...
I recently reconnected with Gloria Donnelly, a nurse leader and educator I have followed since I became a nurse in Philadelphia in 1973. As a nurse, I have always looked to her over the years to gain her insights to see where healthcare is going. As we are in a time...
I met Joanne Evans over 20 years ago. She worked for the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and I had just coauthored the Nurse Case Management Review and Resource Manual for the organization. ANCC had added onsite training for nurses who wanted to sit for the...
Patient Safety is something we are all responsible. To help raise awareness I did a series of videos during Patient Safety Week to provide information that all can use. I hope you will take time to watch each one or read the transcript, but most of all do what you can...
As I mentioned in my post of March 8, We all Responsible for Patient Safety. To raise awareness, March 14th-20th is designated as Patient Safety Week. The goal is to educate and empower people to know what they can do to stay safe when they, thier families and friends...
Patient Safety Week will take place next week, but I wanted to share this post a little early so you can start thinking about how you protect your safety when you enter the healthcare system. Whether you are a patient, a family member, or a healthcare professional,...
I am excited to share my latest publication, The 2021 Special Report: Stepping Up to Certification. This Report is an updated version of the 2018 Report. I originally wrote this Report because I wanted to have a document to send to those looking to Step Up to...
I have been working with a patient who has a history of chronic back pain. Recently she has had an exacerbation that left her in severe pain that has her searching for relief. Before I became involved, she told me she had gone to various emergency departments and...
Over the past few months, I have had to miss many families and friends’ events. Babies have been born, friends have died, holidays have come on gone. As a person at risk for COVID-19, my husband and I have tried to be careful and follow the guidelines; wear a...
I am sure you have heard the recorded message when you call your insurance company, your bank or other service provider – “This call is being recorded and may be used for quality purposes.” Most of us dismiss the message as we just want to talk to someone about...
As a nurse leader, a case manager and a nurse advocate I strive to be a good communicator, a networker and skilled at resource management. 2020 put us all into isolation and shut down travel, conference, and onsite meetings that allowed us to meet vendors, colleagues,...
